This post will detail the process and challenges of creating the artwork for the self-published picture book, The Super Awesome Big Beautiful Welcome Surprise, authored by Barker and Barker.
Expectations
I did not expect to be chosen for this project. It’s one of those inquiries sent to a pool of artists, which I agreed to be included because I have been wanting to create a character-driven picture book and I still have free slots on my work calendar. The story also reminded me of my own picture book story pitch, Busy Bela Ballerina, a hyperactive and highly stressed polar bear cub. Then I was picked to illustrate this story about a precocious child preoccupied with building a fantastic present for her favorite auntie.
“Let’s do this!,” I told myself. Expectations were high especially for myself because I know my weaknesses as an illustrator and this will put me to the test. The weakness was drawing people. A character-based story that explores difficult emotions will be the right challenge.
The idea of creating a topsy-turvy structure on a double page spread excited me the most, especially when I was given freedom to realize this. I was pumped to brainstorm but it took too long for the client to finalize the dimensions and other technical requirements, which I believe is quite crucial in beginning any illustration work. Why? In my practice, knowing the layout of the page before commiting to an idea or any sketch was done was imperative. It allows you to estimate the real estate of the page. Will you have enough space for a towering vertical object or a sprawling landscape so you can build the world in the story?
As always I organized a Pinterest board dedicated to this story. Since it takes place indoors, I gathered home decors and interior designs, mainly mid-century modern. I have learned that the authors are from Tennessee and so I looked up typical architecture of homes in the state as an homage to their family story. I even studied the floor layout of such homes so I may imagine the furniture arrangement as well as the movement of the characters within that environment. Art from Janet Hill and Wes Anderson were also sources of inspiration.
As for the palette, I found myself defending my choice of colors to the authors. Usually clients do not comment on mood boards so this was a first for me! The brief asked for warm and cozy as the story happens during winter in Northern America and will be published in fall. I referred to dried citrus, a common decor during the cold season, which falls between the orange and green spectrum. If blues were to be found, these will be muted and more greenish. Incidentally, the interiors of a cafe-bistro in Strasbourg, Brasserie Boëhm, that we visited over Christmas also allowed me to see the possibilities of this palette live in winter. I was happy to explore this color combination.
The Brasserie Boëhm in Strasbourg using oranges and emeralds in their interior design
However, the authors found the mood board too bright and a bit "Willy Wonka." They referred to the cover art from Lullaby for the King, which in my defense, something I did not want to repeat anymore and be trapped into the same design. I wanted each book I create to have its own look and palette. This also explains why the cover art is hand-lettered and text heavy.
I then explained “while the author‘s choice of colors are sophisticated with lots of warm neutrals and blues, what I envision for this book is fun, quirky and exciting—active even, to reflect EJ‘s energy and unique creativity. I usually choose two dominant hues, in this case orange and emerald and then olives and warm neutrals in between, inspired by the dried citrus decors and warm ambience indoors during the holidays. We don’t want to borrow palettes from my previous works because each book and story is different. I also took cue from the brief that although taking place in winter, it’s not necessarily a Christmas story.”
I had to rework the mood board to cater to the authors’ vision while upholding my own ideas for the book.
Starting on the wrong foot
The initial main character sketch did not land well, too. The child looked older than 5 years old and too “doll-like” commented the author. I was later shown artwork samples from other illustrators, from which the author hoped I could draw inspiration together with a photo reference of her granddaughter, also named EJ, who inspired the character, as well as a specific outfit she had in mind for her—an information that might have been helpful to receive prior to sketching. A request to authors, if you have a say about the art direction, please let the artist know right away if you want a real person in your life to be the inspiration of the character to save time and back and forth discussions. Any reasonable artist will consider this request. Otherwise we will assume that we are free to create the character that we identified with in the story. Of course I understood that this a precious story about their family and that they have visualized the scenes repeatedly in their heads as they wrote it, so I also attempted to step into the authors' shoes to visualize the art brief and then decided if it was the best interpretation or not. If the description did not excite me, I would suggest an alternate scene. If the description had too many verbs, I would simplify and choose the best action for the scene. I had to remind the authors that we were not making an animated film.
The problem with a detailed art brief is that it limits the artist's freedom to imagine even if it helps understand the author's intentions. It also undermines the creative decisions of the illustrator. I tend to go beyond what was written on the page if it will benefit the story and finished product.
Admittedly my style of drawing people is still somewhat generic, flat and leaning more towards realistic proportions, hence looking older in children’s books world. Rébecca Dautremer pointed this out to me during our workshop. However, this is where I am right now in my drawing people stage, which I intend to improve, refine and perhaps stylize with consistent practice. The author wanted a whimsical style similar to the samples she shared with me. I could not help but feel offended and micromanaged somehow.
This time I really had to step back and wonder if the authors understood my style or if they understood that illustrators have their own signature style. The age, eyes, hairstyle and outfit I can adjust but I will not and cannot possibly adopt another artist’s style of drawing people (and animals). It was a conscious decision I made because more often than not, all the other visual elements in my illustrations are going to be whimsical or fantastical. That’s how I balance my magical realism world-building. Even though this particular story happens in a realistic world, the whimsy happens as she creates her big project.
I began to also wonder if the authors and I simply have creative differences. The authors wanted "warm, cozy and emotional" referring to EJ's big emotions as she struggles while completing her task and the soothing interaction with her parents, while I saw "fun, quirky and exciting" pertaining to the energy of EJ's character as she was manically building her Aunt's gift. I might have fixated on the title and the surprise project part for this mood board because this was where I foresaw the heavy lifting as far as illustrations go. Also if you have a title "The Super Awesome Big Beautiful Welcome Surprise," would you not expect the readers to also feel the excitement as they turn each page?
Checking my ego
I was even more conflicted after I received the feedback on the rough sketches. I’ve never had too much comments on almost all the pages, which strangely, I was already expecting judging by the critical reception of the mood board and character sketches. Would you believe that my record client approval rate was 2 hours after submission? It was a record even for my editor! Not in this case, though. Did the authors feel they need to comment on every page because I sensed needless nitpicking and the persistence to follow the art brief or was my work really that bad? Is this a characteristic of self-publishing projects where there was no editor nor art director to mediate? How could a project I was so excited about become so tiresome in an instant? I was afraid I was going to mess this up!
I was losing the heart for it. I felt like the detailed art brief was swallowing the artist in me. Do I just follow the text and the art direction verbatim or do I just go off track and follow my instincts? Am I going to be just a generic work-for-hire artist or be someone who advocates for my own artistic voice? These were all new information to me.
Through the initiative of the clients, we scheduled a virtual meeting to discuss how we could move forward. I prepared myself mentally before I met with them to explain my creative decisions. To prepare, I listened to a lot of pro illustrators and designers who gave me insights about their own experiences with clients, rejections and dying projects, just to be able to relate and understand that my situation is not unique and that there are ways to defend and at times concede with humility and dignity. Truth is I am not a humble person—which artist is anyway? But I can learn. In this interview, Caldecot medallist author-illustrator Jon Klassen talks about knowing your strengths and weakness as an illustrator by doing the job:
No matter how much I flipped the situation, I still ended up standing up for what I believed was best for the art direction. Do you know how much I had hated drawing snowflakes after this? That was also new information. I cannot make something I do not like. It will never work. In order to make drawing the snowflakes bearable, I created snowflake brush presets in Photoshop from the individual snowflake I illustrated. I also realized that I am no longer that naive artist fresh from art school, who would just say 'yes’ to every demand or request. Clients chose me for a reason—that I am able to draw their story. I will commit to this task as I had with my other books but no one can make me draw snowflakes anymore.
Around this time I was also working on several projects, which further pushed me to the edge. Perhaps I was running out of juices or was simply demotivated. Either way, I could not design the big project that EJ was building—the one thing I was most keen and given absolute freedom to create.
"An audience can tell when a person lost interest in the drawing, too." - Jon Klassen
Off to Vienna
The last spread where the big surprise is revealed became a challenge. I have been stuck inside my cave for months working non-stop one project at a time and I was having trouble executing an idea for this double page spread. One of the ways to fix creative blockage is to travel as I have mentioned in this post.
As soon as I had the chance, I went to Vienna, a 6-hour drive from Stuttgart, to get out of my head and just gather inspiration. I also asked myself these questions: What would a creative child like EJ do to surprise her favorite Aunt? Why was Aunt Rosie so special? Since the authors gave me freedom to interpret the big surprise project however I like, I thought why not build a Christmas tree fort, where she would sleep with her Auntie Rosie during her visit?
I explored the relationship between the two characters. I realized that kids are naturally kind and thoughtful especially to people who pay attention to them by playing or by simply talking to them. Maybe, Auntie Rosie is just like that to her. Adults usually just talk to adults in gatherings. But maybe Auntie Rosie is more attentive to the little one. My experience is similar, because I play with kids I meet and tell them stories if we have more time and for some reason, they give me gifts, like their drawings or diy crafts, their special toys or a space in their beds. I get to pick which lucky charm to attach to the crafty bracelet they made. They jump up and down screaming my name as soon as I enter the door and get big hugs from little arms, even when I only see them once or twice a year. I would be led straight into their playroom or their bedroom and I won’t see any adult from then on—not even my husband! I now have a collection of children’s artworks given to me by my little friends. In fact, you will see these artworks and doodles in the book as a dedication to my little friends! I seriously don’t know what their parents tell them about me but I do feel like a rockstar every time I visit!
The kids would build or create something special for or with me. One of them was a fort made of cushions and blankets or sometimes just a set-up under the dining table. I also built forts with my cousins when we were younger. All kids had fort building projects, I think. It might be unexpected in the story, as one might suspect she’s building a Christmas tree. I believe it really fits EJ’s character and shows how thoughtful she is and how she adores her Auntie Rosie. The Christmas tree fort can be festive, wacky and welcoming at the same time.
The works of Viennese artists like Klimt and Hundertwasser that helped me get out of my creative rut.
I know what I want to achieve but how to actually put it all together on paper was tricky. The idea is to create a collage-type structure made of random objects a 5 year old child is able to assemble. The author even enlisted items she wanted to see: hockey stick, pipes, hula hoop, etc. It should be not too Christmasy but there should be a star and lots of snowflakes everywhere. I wanted it to be unexpected but also believable for a child to build. I did not only want it to be just a pile of stuff but I also want it to be artistic and at the same time have an ounce of logic, meaning there is no magic holding it all together because the story is not happening in a fantasy world. My collage technique works really well to construct this on the page.
The idea is to create a collage-type structure made of random objects a 5 year old child is able to assemble.
Thank goodness for Vienna, I was able to unblock and just reboot. Apart from my revisiting the works of my favorite artist, Gustav Klimt, whose triangular composition gave structure to the installation that EJ was building, another local artist I absolutely needed to see was Friedensreich Hundertwasser. He was an Austrian visual artist, architect and environmentalist who built wacky structures all over the continent. His famous Viennese landmarks are the Hundertwasser House and the Kunsthaus, where his paintings and screen prints are on permanent display. And boy did I get a Eureka! moment as soon as I saw one of his unconventional pillars at the entry way! His two-dimentional pieces were the best samples of the "chaotic grandeur" I was searching for. I was in awe and immensely inspired. Even the amusement park in Prater was abundant with structural forms that ignited ideas.
There are many creative and technical decisions to consider in creating a picture book and I have the task of putting them all together harmoniously.
Lessons learned
This was the last full picture book before I took a month-long break in summer, which, by the way, was shortened to just a week. I was nearing breaking point already. Each day was a drag and it seemed as though it will never finish. I could have done this much quicker but I was unable to so I stuck to my schedule just to keep me sane and submitted a day before the deadline. I had a few more commitments to fulfill immediately after this. For the first time as a children’s books illustrator, this felt like work.
Just like the main character, EJ, I felt big emotions, experienced disappointments and struggled to produce good art. There are many creative and technical decisions to consider in creating a picture book and I have the task of putting them all together harmoniously. Every creative decision I made was well-researched, planned and calculated. It may not entirely match the authors' ideas but a serious artist must be able to present and express her vision as well, while staying open to criticisms and work around the issues.
I needed to understand what the story is really about. Upon rereading the manuscript, I realized that the authors' intention was to educate parents on how to deal with children's stress, while I was focused on EJ's character and the big surprise project. It was never about the main child character's creativity nor resilience and not even about her relationship with her aunt. Heck! It was not even about the title of the book. That was the disconnection between the authors’ intentions and mine. After all, this picture book was written for parents in part by a trauma psychotherapist to use as a tool for therapy.
I learned a lot about keeping an open mind, communicating effectively, fixing art block and empathizing not only with the character but also with the authors.
I took my time to contemplate on the author's feedback as well as reevaluate my own vision of the picture book. I felt her concerns, as this is a precious undertaking for her. This is basically a love letter to her family, especially to her granddaughter. I can imagine her visualizing the scenes as she wrote them. My job, however, is to bring those words to life using my own voice paired with my technical expertise, to the best of my abilities and beyond if trusted and given the chance to explore.
Communication is key. Talking directly with the client helped a lot to get the ideas across and exchange views. In the end, I still had to follow my gut. Will I be able to live with myself knowing there's a book out there with art that I half-liked just to please a client or will I advocate for my ideas until we reach a compromise? I believe readers will also know that a page was done half-heartedly.
This book is not the best work I've done yet nor the best experience I've had, but I love what I created. I learned a lot about keeping an open mind, communicating effectively, fixing art block and empathizing not only with the character but also with the authors. Most of all this book was a great challenge to my creativity and professionalism. I aimed to explore a character-driven story, I ended up examining my own character in the process.
Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician? Make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor? Make good art. IRS on your trail? Make good art. Cat exploded? Make good art. Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before? Make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, and eventually time will take the sting away, but that doesn’t matter. Do what only you do best. Make good art. Make it on the good days too. - Neil Gaiman
The Super Awesome Big Beautiful Welcome Surprise is written by Stacie Barker and Matthias J. Barker and is available for a limited time here.
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